Beasthood (The Hidden Blood Series) (20 page)

~
Chapter 20-
Scatter~

Saturday May 28
th
, 11:48 p.m -
Library

“
What do you want?”

“
She's been moved to a cabin.”

             
The young man rolled his eyes. “Yes I
know
that. The whole community knows that! Tell me something
useful
!” he hissed. The taller man, his other contact, studied him carefully. The young man sighed and asked calmly, “She hasn't had any attacks? Anything?”

“
No.”

“
What about Lora? What does she know about her?”

“
Just what Maria told her,” his contact shrugged.

“
Is there anything she didn't tell us at the council meeting?”

             
His contact shook his head. “I don't know for sure,” he replied, sweeping his calloused hand over his very short hair.

“
What about Lora and Nik? He was very reluctant to talk about that at the council meeting.”

“
No one's told Jaz. Nik made them swear not to.”

             
The young man snapped his head up.“Interesting,” he purred thoughtfully. “When did you find this out?”

“
Yesterday. I know someone who likes to gossip,” the contact added with a mischievous grin.

“
Hmm. See what else your gossiper knows.”

             
The taller man bowed his head ever so slightly in compliance. “She also doesn't know who he really is,” he added, not knowing if this was important or not.

             
The young man frowned. “Meaning?”

“
She doesn't know he's the Pack Leader. And she doesn't know his real name.”

             
The young man raised his brows.“You mean...?”

             
The taller man nodded. The young man grinned menacingly. “Oh that
is
interesting. Nik has a crush on the new girl. Two sisters. You dirty dog.” He smiled darkly.

“
What are your orders?”

             
The young man turned to him. “Watch her. I want you to keep an eye on her. Tell me when she changes, tell me who she's close to, anything you can find out. Especially if it involves Nik.”

“
I'll meet you here the same time in a week, unless it's urgent.”

             
The sound of someone passing by the library entrance made the two of them scatter away, like cockroaches from the light.

~
Chapter 21-
Build~

Sunday May 29
th
, 6:39 a.m. -
Log Cabin

             
Jaz stumbled into the kitchen in red short-shorts and a Guns 'n' Roses t-shirt. Her dark auburn hair -now halfway down her upper arm- was a bird's nest. Her face was all puffy, her eyes red and droopy. She hated being woken up early. Especially when she'd had a bad night's sleep.

             
It made her very grumpy.

“
Jaz this is-”

“
What time is it?” she grumbled. She squinted at the kitchen clock through heavy eyelids. Her eyes widened as if she'd been splashed with cold water. “What the hell!? I don't think I've ever been up this early in all my
life
!” she cried.

             
The three girls in the living room stared at her, unable to hide the fact they found her reaction, strange and yet, hilarious.

             
Skye was sitting on the armchair in pale, denim shorts, high top grey trainers and a yellow t-shirt with the iconic smiley face from Forrest Gump. She had her strawberry-blonde hair tied up high in a pony tail. The waves cascaded down like a silky waterfall.

             
A girl with a bright smile was sitting on the three seater back to front on her knees, with her elbows resting on the top of the cream leather. She was wearing harem style, khaki combats with cuffed legs, old, white canvas trainers and a white vest with a checkered red and navy shirt over the top. Her hair was the same colour as Edda's sandy brown, though very long and wavy. She had it tied to one side in a loose ponytail.

             
The other girl was standing by the fireplace. She had turned around when Jaz came in, peeking up at her between her solid bangs. Her hair was honey blonde, thick and poker straight. Her eyes were framed neatly with black eyeliner and she had on a luminous peach- coloured lipstick. She was wearing a loose, sleeveless, white, cotton blouse with buttons down the front, navy leggings that stopped halfway up her toned pale calves and navy canvas trainers with white laces.

             
She was very light skinned compared to her golden tanned sister. From the short glance Jaz sent their way, she could see they were sisters because apart from the hair and make up -or lack of-, they looked almost exactly the same.

             
But she barely paid them any attention. She didn't even notice Skye sat near the door. She was too busy focusing on Edda as
she
was the one who had woken her up at this ungodly hour. “Why in the hell did you wake me up so bloody early!?” she snapped, glaring at her.

             
Edda tried to stifle the urge to smile but failed. She leant against the worktop, clothed in faded jeans and a vest. “I told you I was gonna work you hard. You'll have to get used to getting up this early and sleeping when I
tell
you to sleep.”

             
Jaz scowled. Skye stood up and walked over to the breakfast bar. She leant against it and smiled at Jaz. It took Jaz a moment to recognize her, she was that exhausted. Her expression changed from angry to apologetic in a flash. “Skye...”

“
Hey Jaz,” she beamed.

             
Edda barged in. “As I was saying before you got your pants in a twist- you know Skye, so she needs no introduction. This,” she pointed to the bright smiling girl on the sofa, “is Kenna and Kelda,” she pointed to the golden blonde by the fireplace. “My daughters.” Jaz glanced at Edda with surprise. She couldn't imagine Edda having two grown up daughters. They must have been about Jaz's age, maybe a few years younger. As if reading her mind, Edda added, “Kenna is my eldest. She's twenty-one. Kelda will be nineteen next month.”

             
Jaz gazed at them awkwardly. She'd lashed out at their mother without even realizing they were related. Her cheeks grew hot.

             
But they didn't seem to have been offended. In fact they both smiled.

             
Kenna grinned at her widely and had a very friendly face. Kelda was softer, quieter and seemed the type to listen rather than tell you her problems. But Jaz was just guessing. She was usually a good judge of character. Apart from her Aunt Erica. That was a one off cock-up of the century.

“
Hi, nice to meet you,” Kenna said, after walking up to her. She then held out her hand. Jaz shook it lightly.

             
Kelda bobbed her head from her place by the fire. Jaz did the same in response.

“
We've got a job for you to do,” Skye announced, revealing a small gap in her front teeth as she grinned.

             
Jaz became uneasy by her words.“What is it?”

“
You'll have to wait and see. Have your breakfast. I'll come back for you in an hour.”             

             
Jaz had a big breakfast -surprise surprise- it was impossible not to with Edda around- of pancakes, eggs, toast and honey, jam, full fat butter and cereal. And then a large fruit smoothie after she had gotten changed. It took all her willpower to keep it all down. Edda could be very persistent.

             
She rummaged through her clothes (she'd stuffed them in the bottom of the wardrobe, planning to sort them out properly when she had the time) picking out her only pair of denim shorts and a loose, white t-shirt with a pessimistic 'Emo'-like slogan saying 'Life's A B****' in black bold letters. She thought it fitting for her current situation, and her overall mood that day.

             
She didn't have any decent work wear, so Edda let her borrow a pair of her work boots. They were brown, with laces, finishing just above the ankle. It had a small heel and good grip. They were slim and surprisingly light but were a bit too big. Jaz was a six, sometimes a seven if they were small. These were a very big size seven. She put them on and walked back into the living room.

             
Skye was waiting for her by the door, exactly as she'd promised. She gave her a whimsical smile and cocked her head back signalling Jaz to follow her.

             
They walked for what seemed like forever. Up to the enormous dome building, turning right towards the surrounding southwesterly woods that then led them through a vast maze of oak, birch and ash trees. They were so tall Jaz couldn't see the top even when she craned her neck all the way back. She had never imagined that England could have so many untouched forests; something out of 'Lord Of The Rings'.

             
She felt completely calm underneath the green covering though she had never felt that way before. Then again, she had always lived in a town. Her house had a few trees scattered at the end of the back garden but nothing like this. They must have been hundreds of years old.

             
How had they kept it safe for so long? Was it a preserved site? Who owned the land?  These were questions she wasn't sure whether to ask. Maybe it was a secret and they didn't want their territory to be known to the outside? And Jaz was an outsider. And probably always would be.

             
Yet of all the time she had been here, she felt oddly at peace underneath the protective -strangely maternal- covering of all these old trees, with their bird companions squawking and chirping away high up in their branches. She could hear much more clearly than ever and the sound was at times very uncomfortable and pierced her eardrums. Despite that, it added to the illusion of being held close by all the wildlife around her, as if Mother Nature was grasping her in a warm, earthy embrace. Her facetious mental voice wasn't sure how to respond to that. Instead, she smirked under her breath.

             
Skye turned around and eyed her quizzically with the same smile she had given her before. A curious mixture of lightheartedness and mischievousness, as if she was laughing inwardly at some private joke, involving Jaz. “Bet you're wondering how we came to be in this place, huh?”

             
Jaz's brows flicked up her forehead in surprise as she gaped at her. What was it with these people?  Sometimes they seemed to know her trail of thought. As if they could read her mind.

             
Maybe Skye really had and that was the private joke. Jaz blanched hating her extreme paranoia. What else would a newbie be thinking when she was finally getting to see the outside? I mean it doesn't take a clairvoyant to work that one out.

             
But still...

             
Skye laughed fleetingly at her expression and then began to explain. “Well, this plot of land has been in our ancestors possession for generations. About six hundred years. Over the past ten to twenty years, especially, we've had numerous people wanting to buy our land, to build houses or shopping centres on. As you can imagine, we declined.”

             
Jaz stumbled over a tree trunk making her voice lurch as she started her question. So she repeated it again. “Don't you ever get people snooping around, wondering what this place really is?” Jaz tripped again, Skye catching her before she fell on her face. Skye grinned at her and Jaz smiled weakly. “Er, thanks.”

“
No problem,” she said brightly. “And yeah sure we do but they tend to be pretty formal and businesslike about it so we rarely have snooping trespassers. But they aren't really the problem. Hunters and poachers are the ones you've gotta watch out for. They don't believe in fences or boundaries or the big signs that say 'Private Property, Keep Out'. Apart from that it's pretty easy to keep this place a secret. The front of the property does really have a spa area.”

“
I wouldn't know. I skipped that part when I was roofied.”

             
Skye gave her a sideways glance. She then flashed Jaz her one hundred thousand kilowatt smile before continuing, as if Jaz had never interrupted. “We use it regularly so whenever they come, sometimes unexpectedly we look like the real deal. As far as anyone knows, on paper, we
are
a hotel and spa. Exclusive, and kind of off the grid. We spread rumours about celebrities being here. There are people of high status  who are loyal to the Pack so they help us that way, some claiming they've been here. Some of them are loyal humans, others are Weres.”

             
Jaz shuddered at the word involuntarily. Skye studied her with interest but said nothing.

             
It didn't take long for Jaz to hear the sound of construction workers ahead. She could hear wood being chopped, sawed and sanded. The scraping of cement on brick. The cement mixer churning away.

             
There were voices, both men and women. She could smell their scents. It was very disconcerting to be aware of her body changing -improving some would say but she couldn't see it that way- and to have no way of controlling it, understanding it or just plain shutting it off.

             
She gazed ahead through the trees. There were movements between the narrow gaps. It should have been hard for her to see at such a distance. But it wasn't difficult at all.

             
To human ears the sounds would have been faint over the cacophony of birdsong and wildlife. To human eyes it would have been almost impossible to see. And let's not even get started on the scents she could smell clearly as if she was inches from their bodies, inhaling deeply.

             
She hated it. She was terrified of it. Her facial expressions changed from one to another, as she at first, became wary of the fact they weren't alone, then unhappy and full of distaste at the strength of her senses, and then melancholy knowing she couldn't do a thing about it.

             
Skye saw all this play on her face like a silent film. She watched Jaz until she emerged out of her thoughts, blinked and then glanced Skye's way.“Don't be scared.”

“
They don't scare me,” Jaz said, trying to sound blase rather than arrogant.

             
Skye was suddenly serious as she said softly, “I wasn't talking about them.” She gave Jaz a knowing look.

             
Jaz regarded her nervously. “Why do I get the distinct impression you can read my mind?” she questioned warily.

             
Skye grinned, lighting up the forest. “I'm flattered, but sorry to disappoint you. We're just good at sensing feelings.”

             
Jaz released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and managed to force a smile as Skye beamed at her. It made her look like she was in pain and Skye laughed again.

             
They marched on until they reached gigantic beech trees with the occasional sweet chestnut, each spaced wider apart than those in the forest they had just travelled through, allowing enough space to build a small house. In that space, a group of about thirty people were working away.